1. Field
Example embodiments relate to an image processing apparatus and method that may extract a feature point from an input image, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus and method that may extract a three-dimensional (3D) feature point by analyzing surface information of a target object using a depth image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technology of extracting and tracking a feature point in an image may be employed for a variety of fields, for example, image search, camera pose estimation, robot vision, and the like.
In a conventional art, the above feature point extracting and tracking technology has been performed using an image (hereinafter, a brightness image) that is generated by a sensor of sensing an intensity of light corresponding to a predetermined wavelength band and converting the sensed intensity of light to an electrical charge.
Depending on an illumination condition of a surrounding environment acquiring the brightness image, the brightness image may vary over time with respect to the same regional point and thus, a repeatability of feature point extraction may be low.
The repeatability corresponds to a performance measurement function with respect to a feature component extraction and thus, indicates a rate of a feature component repeatedly extracted at the same position.
When the above repeatability is not maintained, it may be difficult to match feature components between two images with different viewpoints, or to track or match feature points between video frames.